18 GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1999

LOVE THREE HOT SPRINGS OUT OF THE THOUSANDS- HOT CREEK, FIELDS AND ASH -

Bill KaysingKing City, CA

HOT CREEKThis has to be a divine design. An icy stream de-

scending from the High Sierras meets a stream-bed steam ventonly a short distance from Highway US 395 above Bishop,California.

What this produces is a delightful and varied hot springsbath . You have your choice of toasting your toes by probingthe stones of the creek bottom or having the feeling of beingin an ice-cube-filled cocktail shaker. And you can enjoy ev-ery temperature in between! There�s a thrill in knowing thatyou are cavorting in a �crack in the cosmic egg,� dancing in ageothermal miracle.

I should mention that I have not been there in years andthings could have changed; but, I hope not. This is one of ourGreat Spirit�s finest aquatic playgrounds.

Hot Creek Springs

FIELDSI call it this because it is close to a tiny village with that

name. To find it, just take the dirt road north from Fields infar eastern Oregon and watch for a small lake to your right.On cold days, the vapors rising from the surface will tag it.Just imagine a lake of about an acre in size full of water around100oF. No one in sight. The mysterious Steen�s mountains tothe west and not a sound. This has to be either an energyvotex or a metaphysical feng shui or simply a super wonder-ful geothermal spring.

I recall swimming to the center of the lake and remem-bering that someone in Fields said it was 7,000 feet deep. Whata mystical and magical concept.... to be suspended by warmwater over a deep chasm in Mother Earth. My beloved and

recently departed soul mate and fellow hot springs lover, Ruth,loved it. And I will always remember how she was sunbath-ing on the crusty beach when a small snake slithered underher neck. I was shaken by the thought it could be venomous;but, Ruth was in a state of hot springs euphoria along with herusual courage and elan, and she never even quivered.

Fields Springs

ASHIf you drive northeast from Vegas on I15, you will in-

tersect the Pan-American Highway US 93. Turn north anddrive between the towering Sheep Range and the charmingMeadow Valley Wash for about 80 miles. You�ll know you�reat Ash Springs when you see a totally gigantic cottonwood onyour left along with a small store. Turn right into a dirt roadfor less than a block and you should see a small concrete-lined pool. Toss your clothes off if no one is there and leap in.No shock, just bliss as the water is just about body tempera-ture. It pours out of a sub-surface pipe, keeps the pool spar-kling clean and then flows down to a warm water lake of abouttwo acres. The pool is on BLM land and open to the public allyear. The lake is privately owned and you should make in-quiry before using it.

I once spent an entire week at Ash, bathing in that luxu-rious, velvet-textured water amidst a forest of willows andcottonwoods, roaming through the nearby desert hills andenjoying campfire meals in the evening. Experiences like thatconvinced me that being a hot springs gypsy was quite possi-bly the highest and best use of my life or anyone�s life for thatmatter.

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GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1999 19

Ash Springs

EPILOGHot springs, how I love them and how fortunate to have

visited so many in the last four decades. If readers have ques-tions, I�ll be happy to try to answer them. Bill Kaysing, PO1095, King City, CA 93930 [only 20 miles from Paraiso (Para-dise Hot Springs)].

Editor�s Note: Bill Kaysing - author, inventor, sailor andvagabond - has written a classic book on �Great Hot Springsof the West� covering 1,700 known hot springs that flow inthe 11 western states.

We have since learned from the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService that there is a species of fish in Ash Springs (Crenicthysbaileyi baileyi), that is listed federally by the Endangered Spe-cies Act.

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